Chapter 47: Little Blue Went Traveling? Part 2

Bo Ting’s eyes lit up instantly. He’d just thought of Mr. Xu, and the message came—like they were on the same wavelength.

“Not too busy.”

“Cleaned up today and set out a batch of dolls.”

“Tomorrow we’ll borrow firecrackers from property management, set them off, cut a ribbon, and it’ll be officially open.”

“Haven’t hit the rush yet.”

Then why no message?

Xu Qinglai’s fingertip paused on the screen.

A voice message came right away, tone unchanged.

“Mr. Xu, do flowers hunt?”

Bo Ting had meant to talk about Little Blue but, mindful of his morning hesitation, edited it to a more biological question.

Do flowers hunt?

Xu Qinglai raised a brow. Seeing the question, he got it.

Something special must’ve happened at the flower shop this morning, keeping Bo Ting from messaging.

Not that he’d forgotten.

The realization smoothed his brows. A hint of amusement entered his slightly somber phoenix eyes, his mood inexplicably brightening.

He pondered his reply to the chat.

“Generally, yes. Some even eat insects.”

So Little Blue’s hunting was normal?

Bo Ting pondered. But transmitting nutrients from so far away?

He rubbed his chin and switched topics.

“By the way, Mr. Xu, there was a burglar in our neighborhood yesterday, but they only stole a potted flower.”

Though Little Blue had left willingly, he couldn’t deny the theft via the skylight hand.

A burglar?

Xu Qinglai’s first thought was the Resurgence Management Office making a move.

But no—that wouldn’t involve hauling off a pot.

Some other group then?

His mind circled, landing on a name.

—Rebirth of Fire.

The only organization recently contacting Bo Ting.

Tch, they’d set their sights on Taiping Luxury Garden?

Were they idiots or sharp? Xu Qinglai shook his head slightly, at a loss to judge.

Bo Ting didn’t know what Mr. Xu was thinking. After speaking, he frowned again.

“Mr. Xu, what do you think the flower thief was after?”

They went to all the trouble of climbing over the wall just to steal a pot of flowers?

Ever since strangers had entered the neighborhood last time, Fitness Zhang Bro had been manning the surveillance cameras around the clock. If the thief had come through the security room, Zhang Bro definitely would have known.

But Zhang Bro hadn’t said a word, which left only one possibility—the thief had climbed over the wall.

And they’d done it in the middle of the night.

Just thinking about it made Bo Ting’s mouth twitch.

What was the point?

Xu Qinglai chuckled lightly. “Probably just stupid.”

Bo Ting hadn’t expected Mr. Xu to be so sharp-tongued.

He couldn’t help but snort in surprise.

“That makes sense.”

With that kind of effort, they could have just gotten a job outside. Why steal?

They were sick in the head.

With a sigh, Bo Ting perked up again, remembering his grand plan for an in-person meetup.

Once the flower shop closed tomorrow, he could tentatively bring it up with Mr. Xu, right?

Ahem, he wondered what Mr. Xu’s reaction would be.

Imagining the scene of chatting with him tomorrow night filled Bo Ting with a bit of excitement.

He quietly reined it in.

…

After the Gem Exhibition ended, the Resurgence Management Office observed for another two days.

Combining this with the previous timeline, it had been a full month, and Taiping Luxury Garden showed no signs of leaving.

Though lately, the activity across the street seemed overly lively online, browsing all sorts of websites and forums.

But that fit their earlier deductions.

“Taiping Luxury Garden seems to be planning to use the ‘flower shop’ to lure in other anomalies.”

“It’s been searching online for flower shop management strategies.”

Wang Dong reported after reviewing the browsing history of the account across the street.

Lu Jingshan nodded.

“That’s normal.”

After all, it was an anomaly. If it went completely quiet, they would have been more worried. This return to its usual “social” activities actually let the Resurgence Management Office breathe a sigh of relief.

“But how does a flower shop fish for anomalies?”

Xue Hengfu raised the question.

Yin Liao answered.

“They could lure them in under the guise of partnerships or outsourcing.”

Of course, that was the human way of putting it. Yin Liao didn’t know if anomalies communicated that way among themselves.

But one thing was certain: since Taiping Luxury Garden was flying that flag, it was confident some anomaly would bite.

The only pity was that it had only searched so far, leaving them unable to spy further.

“Either way, it’s good news. It hasn’t come out, right?”

Lu Jingshan broke the heavy atmosphere, looking up.

“Don’t overthink its online antics for now. It’s just attracting its kind.”

“As long as we confirm Taiping Luxury Garden truly lacks the ability to go out.”

“That’s a win!”

“One more day, and we can submit this report tomorrow.”

The original observation period had already been exceeded by a day, but for safety, Lu Jingshan had deliberately extended it by two more days, planning to report to superiors tomorrow.

That should ensure no margin for error, right?

The next day.

Taiping Luxury Garden remained as quiet as ever.

Lu Jingshan watched the clock hand hit twelve before taking the report and knocking on the third-floor office door.

“Captain Zheng.”

“I’m coming in.”

Zheng Shangyun had been waiting too.

He knew rushing was pointless, so he’d borne the pressure while awaiting the initial assessment on Taiping Luxury Garden.

Luckily, Lu Jingshan had finally come through this time, showing up at noon. If he hadn’t, Zheng Shangyun would have had to intervene.

With a deep breath, he invited him in.

Zheng Shangyun took the joint observation report from Lu Jingshan.

—”Preliminary judgment: Dormant Anomaly?”

“That’s the current assessment.”

“From Taiping Luxury Garden’s words and actions, plus observations from several incidents, there’s no sign it’s left the neighborhood.”

“And it’s been over a month now.”

The most telling was Si Ning and the others’ encounter recently.

They’d been right on the other side of a wall from whatever was in Taiping Luxury Garden. If it could come out, it wouldn’t have just watched them leave.

The Gem Exhibition afterward confirmed it too.

It showed Taiping Luxury Garden’s usual habit of stirring trouble online.

In reality, there were no traces of interference—or capability.

“In summary.”

“This might really be a high-rank Dormant Anomaly, restricted in some way?”

Lu Jingshan nodded.

Zheng Shangyun let out a breath of relief.

“Good.”

“If that’s the case, we can finally catch our breath.”

Seeing his subordinate’s curiosity, he rubbed his temple with a helpless look.

“Things cropped up again these past two days.”

Zheng Shangyun’s fatigue was visible, and Lu Jingshan frowned in concern.

“What could be so serious?”

“Was it Rebirth of Fire causing trouble again?”

They hadn’t heard anything.

Zheng Shangyun shook his head.

“It’s got nothing to do with those lunatics.”

He paused, lowering his voice.

“Don’t spread this around yet.”

“Another ancient Anomalous God… shows signs of resurgence.”

Anomalous God—a term both strange and familiar.

Only a few in the Resurgence Management Office knew of it, including Lu Jingshan.

He’d been briefed upon promotion to captain.

—Ancient entities beyond human years, akin to but superior and more terrifying than anomalies: deities.

When Taiping Luxury Garden first appeared, higher-ups had suspected an ancient Anomalous God resurgence.

But later signs proved otherwise.

Taiping Luxury Garden differed completely from an Anomalous God. Though it exceeded SSS-Level Anomaly limits, the anomaly neighborhood wasn’t ancient.

It lacked that decayed remnant aura, blending ordinarily with any Mengjia City building.

Anomalous Gods, without exception, carried decayed erosion, easily identifiable.

Lu Jingshan hadn’t witnessed an Anomalous God resurgence himself, but his superior had.

Zheng Shangyun’s voice grew heavy. “The current environment suppresses Anomalous Gods above SSS from rising, but it’s not impossible for success.”

He stopped there, his expression grave.

“Anyway, be on standby these next couple days.”

“Since Taiping Luxury Garden’s preliminary judgment is set and it’s been quiet a month, we can ease up a bit.”

With events piling up, even a major city like Mengjia had to ration Ability Users to avoid shortages during emergencies.

Lu Jingshan nodded.

“Don’t worry, Captain Zheng. Got it.”

“But.” He pondered before confirming again.

“That resurfacing Anomalous God—is it in our Mengjia City?”

There were over a dozen city-states nearby; they couldn’t be this unlucky every time.

Zheng Shangyun grimaced at that.

“Confirmed.”

“Right outside our city.”

Lu Jingshan: …

Fine.

Disaster-prone Mengjia City. He’d known that when he got promoted.

Lately, every major incident happened here. Who knew if the city’s feng shui was off.

Lu Jingshan’s mood was complicated.

News of the Anomalous God didn’t spread. The Resurgence Management Office carried on as usual.

Only captains like Lu Jingshan juggled their tasks while awaiting orders.

Meanwhile, in Taiping Luxury Garden:

Bo Ting woke from a good sleep, eager for the flower shop’s opening.

At noon, Miss Du invited all the neighborhood residents to tour the shop, asking Bo Ting to do the ribbon-cutting.

After waking, Bo Ting decided to give it his all. After showering, he changed into the shirt and slacks he’d bought before.

His tall, upright figure made the white shirt enhance his cool, noble features rather than detract.

No one would guess, ignoring his bank balance, that he was a poor wage slave worth only five hundred yuan head to toe.

Admiring himself in the mirror in familiar clothes, Bo Ting sighed. Who’d have thought the last time he’d worn them, he was human; now he was AC.

No matter. With a mask, he could blend right in with Miss Du and the others.

Bo Ting took a deep breath, nodded approvingly at the mirror.

Time to go!